Print to File

One doesn’t need to print to paper or other media very often these days. With email and instant messaging, it is often easier to record and send content electronically. One may, for example, share screen casts, images, or PDFs.

Any application that can print to a device can also print to a PDF file. PDFs have some advantages over other recording techniques. Humans and machines can quickly search and index PDFs, whereas searching a video or image is far slower and less accurate.

Most applications in Kubuntu use the system print interface, which is shown below.

Some applications provide more PDF options than others. LibreOffice has a basic and advanced PDF setting.

Chrome has a custom print interface and does not print background images by default. This helps save ink.

Print to Device

Kubuntu should auto-discover most modern printers. Test a printer using System Settings > Printers > (printer model) > Maintenance > Print Test Page. If it works as desired, there's little point in changing the configuration.

Sometimes multiple devices will appear for a single printer. Usually, this happens when printing and fax capabilities are available. After determining the preferred device, one can set the default printer using System Settings > Printers > (printer model) > [x] Default Printer.

For the best reliability, it may be desirable to assign a constant IP address to the printer. One may set a static IP in the printer panel. Alternately, one could configure the router to assign a reserved constant IP address over DHCP. One may test the connection using ping 10.0.0.25 (where "10.0.0.25" is the IP address). Some printers may need to be configured to respond to ping requests.

If a printer is not auto-discovered, we suggest you first set a static IP as discussed above. After this, Kubuntu may find the printer. If not,one may add one using System Settings > Printers > Add Printer.

View and Edit PDF files

Okular is the default PDF viewer for Kubuntu. It has support for virtually all PDF capabilities. Adobe Acrobat is also available.

PDF Arranger (formerly PDF Shuffler) can rearrange, remove, or add pages to a PDF document. Use DiffPDF to visually compare PDF files.

Focus systems come with shrinkpdf which can reduce PDF files to as little as 5% of the original. It does this by lowering image quality to screen view levels and is noticeable only when printed on paper. You can edit this script to adjust image quality (_dpi) if you wish.

HP Device Manager

HP Linux Imaging and Printing (HPLIP) is a suite of tools provided by HP for their hardware. Many capabilities, like document-feeder or scanning, do not require HPLIP. Use it only if you need more advanced capabilities such as fax support or esoteric page settings. If not, you can remove it by entering sudo apt purge hplip in a terminal.

Disclaimer

We try hard to provide a useful solution validated by professionals. However, we cannot anticipate every situation, and therefore cannot guarantee this procedure will work for your needs. Always backup your data and test the solution to determine the correct procedure for you.

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